FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of IEEE 802.11-compliant wireless local area network (LAN) 100, which comprises: station 101-1, and station 101-2. As shown in FIG. 1, station 101-1 is within station 101-2's transmission range, and station 101-2 is within station 101-1's transmission range, and thus communications between station 101-1 and station 101-2 occur in typical fashion.
FIG. 2 depicts wireless LAN 100, in which station 101-2 has moved to a new position, while station 101-1 is in the same position as in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, station 101-1 is now on the fringe of station 101-2's transmission range, and vice versa. Consequently, the number of transmission errors that occur when station 101-1 and station 101-2 communicate typically rises dramatically, thereby decreasing the effective throughput of these communications. This phenomenon is referred to as fading.
Communicating stations 101-1 and 101-2 typically can compensate for the increase in transmission errors by extending their transmission ranges, as depicted in FIG. 3. As is well-known in the art, transmission range can be extended by decreasing the transmission bit rate. By extending the transmission range as shown in FIG. 3, the transmission error rate can revert to its prior lower level.